Basic Engineering Error which shook the World

I mean Fukushima nuclear plant catastrophe. It was going like this:

Friday 11 March
14:46 ...power plant's nuclear reactors 1, 2, and 3 are automatically shut down by the shake...Power plant is cut off from the Japanese electricity grid, however, backup diesel generators kick in to continue cooling...

15:01 The tsunami unleashed by the earthquake strikes the Fukushima facility damaging the backup generators required to cool the reactors... Details HERE

And this is all, the rest is CHAOS.

All problems the World has and will have for a long time, are the direct result of cooling system failure. Cooling system failed because backup generators were hit by tsunami. They were hit by tsunami because "..fuel tanks for the generators, positioned at ground level just metres from the sea, were among the first parts of the facility to be destroyed ..". Details HERE.

That means the backup system was located in more vulnerable position than the object which was to be backed up. It is absolutely against the logic and engineering practice. Something like hanging the keys to the safe on the wall just above it.

And it shook the world. Many countries have to revise their energy programs. It puts in danger plans of reducing carbon emissions. Consequences are difficult to predict. Only because of one error, placement of backup generators, which has nothing to do with nuclear technology.

On one hand we can say - why all that panic? We learned a lesson, the error will not be repeated. But on the other hand .. If it was an error in the old, traditional engineering art, how can we trust engineers at all? We must not implement technologies which failure can cause such enormous damage. Because humans will always make basic and fundamental errors.

I dedicate above statement to enthusiasts of genetic engineering.